CSMP Background

COSLA Strategic Migration Partnership (CSMP) was established in 2004 to facilitate the delivery of accommodation and support services to asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland. The role of the Partnership is primarily strategic – we work with a range of key partners to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees are successfully integrated into host communities. This involves working in partnership with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, the Scottish Executive, Scottish Local Authorities and a host of other stakeholders from the voluntary and private sector. More specifically, the Partnership has five main roles:

To play an ‘enabling’ role in assisting Scottish stakeholders to develop accessible services for dispersed asylum seekers;
To support the integration of new refugees into the community;
To facilitate and promote effective contact, co-ordination and partnership working across localities and service providers;
To facilitate strategic planning for asylum seeker, refugee and migration issues;
To provide the necessary links, in conjunction with the Scottish Executive, between Scotland and the Home Office and other regional Consortia;

The Partnership’s structure has three elements:

Scottish Strategic Co-ordination Group
SSCG Operational Sub-group
COSLA Project Team

In addition, CSMP links in with other regional strategic co-ordination groups across the UK:

Regional Strategic Co-ordination in the UK
Scottish Refugee Integration Forum
New Roots Scotland
Asylum Positive Images Network

In terms of the priorities of the Partnership, a number of goals have been identified that will be addressed over the course of 2007, including:

To facilitate new arrangements for the statutory assessment and care of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children;
In association with the Home Office and the UN High Commission for Refugees, facilitate the successful introduction of the Gateway Protection Programme into Scotland, which provides a route to the UK for refugees;
To consider the implications of the broader migration agenda vis-a-vis local authority services and community cohesion;
To assist with awareness raising and facilitate information sharing in relation to human trafficking;
To establish mechanisms that will assist with the monitoring and evaluation of services provided to refugees and asylum seekers;
To undertake or commission research into refugee and asylum issues;
To disseminate accurate information about asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland.

History

Since 2001, the Home Office has provided funding to support regional strategic co-ordination in relation to asylum and refugee issues. An ‘enabling grant’ has been paid to various regional consortia in order to:

“Provide a regional (or in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland – a national) advisory, development and consultation function for member organisations from the statutory, voluntary, community and private sectors – for the co-ordination and provision of advice, support and services for asylum support, unsuccessful asylum seekers, and new refugees.” (Home Office Enabling Grant Agreement 2006/07).

According to the Home Office, this enabling function is necessary because there is no one agency or organisation equipped to deliver the full range of services needed for asylum support, and the integration of new refugees and their families, and there is a need to provide additional consultation mechanisms, co-ordination and inter-agency contact.

The creation of these co-ordinating structures has been critical to the effective regional management of the national asylum and refugee agenda. The structures currently in place have developed organically over time in response to key operational, policy and political challenges in a national, regional and local context.

Within a Scottish context, the strategic co-ordination role was initially undertaken by the CSMP. This partnership was hosted by Glasgow City Council until 2004, after which the Partnership was re-established as the COSLA Strategic Migration Partnership (CSMP). The general remit of the Partnership at that time was to facilitate the delivery of accommodation and support services to asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland. It would obtain strategic direction and political force by linking in with the political structures of COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) and through its executive group, the Scottish Strategic Co-ordination Group.

During the period since inception, CSMP has facilitated and promoted effective contact, co-operation and partnership working between key regional stakeholders. This has allowed for the development of a co-ordinated national overview around support provision and services for asylum seekers, unsuccessful asylum seekers and the resettlement and integration of new refugees.

In addition, CSMP has, in partnership with other regional consortia, been instrumental in assisting the Border & Immigration Agency (BIA) in developing key strategies and policy objectives. As the relationship with BIA has continued to develop, so too has CSMP’s stakeholder partnerships. Indeed, there is now strong recognition that these partnerships have assisted with the positive management of the asylum and refugee agenda within Scotland.